You Could Be Lucky, Yael Bartana

Museum of Liverpool Life

18 September - 28 November 2004

Please note that this exhibition has now closed

You Could Be Lucky is an 8 minute DVD projection being shown in the Mersey Culture gallery cinema in the Museum of Liverpool Life as part of Liverpool Biennial International 04.

Prompted by the numerous equestrian statues in Liverpool, as well as the importance of the horse in British history and culture, Bartana inquires into the Grand National, one of the world's famous steeplechase races, held in Liverpool since 1839. But rather than focusing on the race itself, she has trained her camera on the audience as a lens through which to explore the culture of the city.

"My motivation to make a video work about the Grand National in Aintree relates to my interest in capturing and reflecting the identity of a place and its people by framing popular social behaviours that occur within it."

We witness the anticipation of the betting, the expectant crowd and the exuberant parade of fashions and catch a glimmer of the height of Liverpool's social season.